New Year, Same Us - Auston Matthews

nine

December 31, 2018 - January 1, 2019

Mitch and Stephs New Years party was pretty amazing. They had decorated with shiny banners and confetti and there were hats and beads and glasses to wear to ring in the new year. Everyone was having a good time mingling or dancing or doing their own things. Music softly played through the living room speakers with ease and the NYC countdown was playing on the T.V. Everyone was dressed up and looking their best. And Aus was no different.

I spotted him across the room chatting with Freddie. He wore a simple black suit with a white button up underneath, some of the buttons undone showing his toned chest. He looked hot. I thought he would go for something more bold but he insisted on matching me. I thought it was cute. My silver cocktail dress would for sure clash with the other suit he had in mind, so we compromised. His eyes met mine and I sucked in a slight breath. The twinkle of his gaze really doing it for me as he grinned. I smiled back shaking my head.

He had seemed different since John and Aryne's wedding. The night that almost was, as I had been referring to it. I had wanted to kiss him badly, but it felt like the timing of it all was horrible. I had decided that night that I was going to try to get over him. I was tired of hearing that we were perfect together and knowing an end for us was never in sight. And then he goes and pulls me back in with his lingering touch and lips ever so slightly ghosting over mine.

An almost. A should've been.

Since then he's made subtle changes. In the kitchen he would put a hand on my lower back as he brushed past me to grab something from the fridge. He'd been sneaking into my room late at night, just to talk or snuggle. And every time we go out he keeps an arm slung around my waist and eyes down every guy in the vicinity. It's not fair, honestly. That he gets to stake a claim without the weight of officiality looming over his shoulders. It felt like he had decided to dance around whatever this was. And I was over it. My heart felt like it was being pulled in different directions. Option one was listening to my heart and diving head first into us, and the option two was telling me to listen to my head. And my head kept telling me that I would ruin us, some way, somehow, and I didn't want that.

But for now, I would happily ignore all of that just to have a good time with my friends. I constantly needed a distraction from will-we-won't-we with Auston, so I decided tonight that I would let him do his own thing and see where it took us.

It felt like there were so many things going on, but maybe a refill would do the trick. I found myself in the kitchen, looking through the fridge for something to make a mixed drink with. One drink was not doing me enough of a service tonight, but I wasn't planning on having more than 2. Maybe 2 and a half at the most.

I pulled out some champagne and orange juice when I heard a voice from behind the fridge door. "Aren't mimosas a morning kinda drink?" Willy asked as he shut the fridge door. He leaned casually against the wall and watched me fix my concoction with a smirk on his face. I flipped him off, but smiled as he opened the fridge back up to let me put the drinks away.

"No William. Can't a woman drink what she wants? It's new years, you think you could let me live a little." I grab my drink and swirl it around as I move to step out of the kitchen but he steps in front of me, not allowing me to pass. I flick my eyes up to glare at him but he just laughs and grabs my wrists swinging them a little in front of us. I steadied our hands but he still lightly held me there.

"You seem like you're already over the night and it's only begun. Wanna play a game?" He smirked.

"I am not up for your shenanigans tonight William!!! I mean business. And I absolutely can not be drunk." I took my wrists back, one of which had my drink, and took a long sip.
He glared at my drink, "Sure, 'absolutely can not be drunk' my ass. Why can't you live a little tonight? It'll be funnnnn. Besides it's fucking New Years. You deserve to be plastered (Y/N)."
I glanced around the room and spotted Auston, he had moved on from Freddie to Steph, and I wondered what they were talking about, both wearing serious expressions. "Just trying to keep a clear head is all." I mumbled. I was about done with all the feelings swirling around in my head and my heart, and I wasn't sure I could keep them in if I got plastered. Especially with the way he had been acting lately. What a mess that would be. So for now I keep tabs on how much I've had to drink.
"(Y/N/N)" Willy grabs my attention again, having picked up on my worries and this time he's a little more serious, giving me a knowing look, "don't worry about anything. Just worry about you. You know how to have a good time. Don't let what ifs plague you tonight. I promise you everything will workout." I smiled and wrapped my arms around him.